A new production by MariuszTreliński (the director responsible for the 2014–15 season’s double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle), well served by a cast of outstanding Wagnerians: Nina Stemme as Isolde, Stuart Skelton as Tristan, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, and René Pape as King Marke, with Sir Simon Rattle conducting, in one of his rare appearances at the Met.

The Metropolitan Opera in HD is a series of screenings of the latest performances by the Metropolitan Opera of New York, delivered in high-definition video and Dolby Surround Sound.

CAST:

Isolde: Nina Stemme

Brangäne: Ekaterina Gubanova

Tristan: Stuart Skelton

Kurwenal: Evgeny Nikitin

King Marke: René Pape

CONDUCTOR: Sir Simon Rattle

PRODUCTION: Mariusz Treliński

SET DESIGNER: Boris Kudlička

COSTUME DESIGNER: Marek Adamski

LIGHTING DESIGNER: Marc Heinz

PROJECTION DESIGNER: Bartek Macias

CHOREOGRAPHER: Tomasz Wygoda

LIVE IN HD HOST: Deborah Voigt

SYNOPSIS:

ACT I A warship on the sea. Isolde is being escorted by Tristan to Cornwall, whose ruler (and Tristan’s foster father), Marke, she is to marry. She tells her companion,

Brangäne, how she once treated Tristan’s wounds after he killed her betrothed, Morold. Now humiliated by her captivity, she asks Brangäne to prepare poison for her and Tristan to drink. Brangäne gives them a love potion instead. As the ship sails into the harbor, Tristan and Isolde confess their love.

INTERMISSION

ACT II The lovers meet in secret while Marke is away. Tristan expresses his belief that love can only find fulfillment at night. Faced with the inevitability of their parting at daybreak, Tristan and Isolde resolve to die. They are discovered by Marke, who is devastated by Tristan’s disloyalty. Tristan implores Isolde to set off into the night with him. She agrees. After a struggle with Marke’s men, Tristan is wounded and collapses.

INTERMISSION

ACT III Tristan is lying in a coma with Kurwenal, his aide, watching over him. As his life slips away, he recalls traumatic events, including the death of his parents. Kurwenal has summoned Isolde, and when her ship appears, the delirious Tristan tears off his bandages and dies in her arms. Marke and Brangäne try to draw Isolde back to the realm of day and life, but she expires in a rapture of ecstatic love.